“We have an existing offer on the property for $4.2 million,” Hall said. “We have paid down principal and we’re current on all the interest that’s due.”

I'm skeptical about that, of course, but the $4.2 million is about half the $10.5 million they were asking for originally. At the time (a year ago), I noted that the $10.5 million seemed to indicate the shelter was serious about selling the building - although I said I wasn't sure if the price was "good," I thought it indicated a real intention to sell.

4 comments:

You can easily see what I think about Peachtree and Pine using the handy search function at the top of the page. I've been writing about the place for a year and half or so. The short version is I don't think the shelter does much good, is a poor model for how to help the homeless, and is a big part of what holds back that area of town from seeing positive change. In my ideal world, the shelter would sell the building, find a better model, and open up shop elsewhere. I think the Gateway Center and organizations like the Union Mission do a better job than Peachtree and Pine, and without the megalomaniacal attitude. I've seen their leaders in person do everything possible to shut down well-intentioned attempts to get regional buy-in on the homeless problem. I wish they could play better with others.

As someone who has lived across the street from the Union Mission for eight years, I agree they do a better job. They blend well into the neighborhood and cause almost no problems. Those who use the shelter go on to live productive lives. The difference between them and Peachtree-Pine is like night and day. Some of the clients of Peachtree-Pine have been there since the shelter opened its doors. To me that is the absolute worst evidence against them.

"Poor models" is ambiguous talk. At any given night in Atlanta, there will be some number of homeless individuals. If they're not staying at Peachtree and Pine, they'll be camping in tent villages in Piedmont Park, and the city will try to remove them, and it will be unsuccessful with that task as they've always been. And in winter, more people will freeze to death if a very large number of individuals are put out on the street.

The 700 beds at Peachtree and Pine represent a huge percentage of the total number of shelter beds individuals can use. The City of Atlanta can try to reduce the total homeless population, but they're not going to bend the curve to make up for 700 people in a revolving population.

People talk about chronically homeless individuals--and, indeed, many homeless on a given night are chronically homeless. But there's still a large percentage of that population that becomes homeless for a few weeks and then turns around. That's always going to be there, and you need shelter beds for that.